MONTREAL — The chief executive of TFI International Inc. says its operations are virtually untouched by the recent vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border.
Alain Bédard, chairman and CEO of Canada's largest trucking conglomerate, says that "vaccination at TFI is not an issue at all," with the vast majority of drivers inoculated against COVID-19.
He says an end to the exemption for cross-border truckers was predictable and that drivers who opted not to get jabbed have been reassigned to Canadian routes.
Bédard says last month was looking like "the best January ever for the company" following a fourth quarter that saw profits jump by more than two-thirds and revenue leap by 91 per cent.
On Jan. 15, the federal government required non-essential Canadian workers including truck drivers to be fully vaccinated if they want to avoid a 14-day quarantine upon re-entry from the United States — a rule the Canadian Trucking Alliance asked to be delayed but has now accepted.
The past 10 days have seen truckers bear down on Ottawa to protest the mandate, and snowball into an entrenched demonstration clogging streets and sparking confrontations and criminal investigations in the capital.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TFII)
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